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This study aims to examine the impact of external debt on economic growth in Bangladesh within a broader macroeconomic scenario.

In the process of doing so, it assesses the empirical cointegration, long-run and short-run dynamics of the concerned variables for the period of 1980–2017 applying the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration. First, debt-gross domestic product linkage explores the impact of external debt impact on economic growth using a set of macro and country risk variables, and then this linkage is also analyzed along with a newly formed macroeconomic policy (MEP) variable using principal component analysis.

The study results reveal the negative impact of external debt on GDP growth, but the larger positive impact of MEP index indicates that this adverse effect of debt can be mitigated or even nullified by sound MEP and appropriate human resource policy.

The dynamic effects of different shocks (external debt and macro policy variable) on economic growth by vector autoregression impulse response function also confirm our ARDL findings.

This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and the capital structure of Latin American firms.

The sample included companies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The authors collected data from 201 non-financial companies between 2009 and 2018, totalizing 1,716 firm-year observations. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression models with panel data.

The main results indicated that chief executive officer duality, legal protection system and corporate social responsibility voluntary disclosure impact the firm's total debt ratio, corresponding to a positive effect for the first two variables and a negative for the last.

This study advances in two main ways. Firstly, due to the broad approach in which the authors addressed corporate governance, involving board composition, ownership structure, minority shareholders legal protection system and information disclosure. Secondly, by presenting empirical evidence about the effects of corporate governance on capital structure from an extensive sample of Latin American firms, the authors expect to contribute to the international debate on the capital structure due to the unique characteristics of Latin America in this regard.

This paper aims to assess to what extent the COVID-19 shock is expected to create a debt crisis in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) through two main questions: what are the main determinants of EMDEs external vulnerability? How vulnerable are EMDEs to the current COVID-19 shock compared to the global financial crisis (GFC)?

In addition to a descriptive analysis of the determinants of EMDEs external vulnerability, this paper designs two sub-indices of overindebtedness and financial fragility that capture EMDEs’ distinct characteristics. The two sub-indices together illustrate the overall external vulnerability to the current shock.

EMDEs are more vulnerable compared to the GFC era. Current debt threats arise mainly from debt architecture and the domination of volatile debt forms – primarily foreign currency-denominated bonds. Excessive fear of debt-deflation spirals after the GFC prompted EMDEs to expand their growth trajectories through a pattern of cheap private lending, loose measures and unmonitored fiscal expansion.

Conclusive post-crisis data are still unavailable.

EMDEs need to balance between temporary accommodative measures and a post-shock policy mix that prevent a deflation spiral without worsening indebtedness and financial fragility. Moreover, financial prudence in face of growing credit demand is crucial, particularly in light of the monetary expansion and injected liquidity.

The indices offer a framework for examining external vulnerability in EMDEs based on theoretical and historical revisions, IMF benchmarks and EMDEs specific debt characteristics. The indices components can be offered for empirical examination in separate future research once conclusive data become available.

This paper focuses on Ṣukūk issuance determinants in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Given the dual characteristic of debt and equity of Ṣukūk as well as their unique benefits of social responsibility, the author questions whether the theories of capital structure, the trade-off and the pecking order are able to well explain the Ṣukūk issuance.

First, the author verifies these theories using capital structure determinants and regresses the Ṣukūk change on these determinants. Second, the author tests the trade-off theory with the target debt model and third, verifies the pecking order theory using the fund flow deficit model.

The empirical results show that capital structure determinants fail to explain both theories. The author confirms that the Ṣukūk change is significatively linked to the deviation from a Ṣukūk target. So, issuing firms balance the marginal costs of Ṣukūk and their benefits of religiosity and social responsibility toward a target debt. The author finds no evidence of the pecking order theory.

This study contributes to corporate finance theory and corporate social responsibility. It verifies if capital structure theories proved in conventional financing can well explain Islamic bonds issuance given their social responsibility benefits.

Managers and investors would pay attention to the social factors explaining Ṣukūk issuance in their finance and investment decisions. They would be enhanced to use this financing tool knowing its social unique benefits. This also should encourage governments to enhance this socially responsible financing. Rating agencies would be motivated to evaluate Ṣukūk and firms would improve the quality and relevance of disclosure to get the best rating.

The author highlights the social factors explaining Ṣukūk issuance and enhances corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The author extends the few literature testing capital structure theories for Islamic bonds and highlights the specific social responsible features of Ṣukūk that would bridge their issuance to capital structure theories. So the author enhances the concept of Islamic CSR. Tying capital structure theories to CSR would also help developing Islamic finance theory as a unique social responsible framework.

The Covid-19 pandemic has rekindled interest in sovereign debt crises amidst calls for debt relief for developing and emerging countries. But has debt relief lessened the debt burdens of emerging and developing economies? The purpose of this paper is to empirically address this question. In particular, the focus is on the implications of debt relief and institutional qualities for sovereign debt in emerging and developing economies.

The model extends the framework on the probability of default by incorporating the receipt of debt relief by a debtor country. Doing so allows to better explain movements of sovereign defaults relating to debt relief. The model is estimated via the regular probit regression.

The analysis shows that the debt relief provided, thus, far, failed to ease the debt overhang problems of developing and emerging countries and reduced investment. The current debt relief schemes may underscore the prospects of self-enforcing and self-fulfilling sovereign debt crises rather than eliminating the dilemma completely. Regarding the forms of debt relief, the analysis shows that debt forgiveness offers favourable prospects in terms of debt sustainability and economic outcomes than debt rescheduling. Perhaps, the sovereign debt crises, particularly in low-income countries, hinge on insolvency problems rather than transitory illiquidity issues.

Any debt relief mechanism should consider seriously the potential incentive effect that reinforces expectations of future debt-relief initiatives. Importantly, solving the sovereign debt problem requires a programme for sustained investment and economic growth, while not discounting the critical role of prudent debt management policies and institutions.

This study contributes a different angle to the debate on sovereign debt distress. Aside from the structural and economic factors, this study investigates the role of debt management policy in the debtor nation and the implications of debt relief benefits for sovereign risk. The framework also focuses on whether the different forms of debt relief exert distinctive impacts.

The article consists of analyzing the behavior of the determinants of the capital structure of Chilean companies between 2007 and 2016. The objective of this study was achieved through a typology of research based on bibliographic, documentary, exploratory and explanatory, considering annual financial reports from Economática in the chosen period.

As this is a research study with a quantitative approach, the statistical tools used were descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, variance inflation factor (VIF) and panel regression.

The results show that Chilean companies (240) have higher and costly long-term debt. These companies have high averages in current liquidity, return to shareholders, growth in sales and assets and market-to-book (MTB). Long-term debt was highlighted with an explanatory power of 85%. Current liquidity was highlighted as being significant in most of the indebtedness proposed in the survey, failing to register brands like this in expensive short-term and long-term indebtedness. It is noticed that flip flops companies are more prone to the pecking order theory (POT). The gap occupied by this study is linked to research involving South American countries, especially the Chilean market, and the determinants of the capital structure.

As future research, it is suggested to include other types of variables related to indebtedness and the same action for its determinants, in addition to the speed technique of adjusting corporate debts.

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the debt modification system (DMS) in Korea. We find that DMS does have a positive effect in increasing the credit scores and annual income of DMS users. We also find that a debt management plan (DMP) is more effective in raising credit scores than personal rehabilitation (PR). However, the credit scores of DMS users in the first half of 2019 (551.1–626.1 points) are at a very low level, making it difficult to access low-interest unsecured loans from banks. Therefore, DMS in Kores is still insufficient to support the return of debt-ridden consumers to normal financial life and provide opportunities for a fresh start.

This study aims to determine whether there is an effect of internal and public debt on income inequality in Kenya for the period 1970–2018.

The relationship is examined by using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model by Pesaran et al. (2001) and Toda Yamamoto causality by Toda and Yamamoto (1995).

Our findings suggest that both internal and public debt harm inequality in Kenya in the long term. Furthermore, a one-way causality from internal debt to income inequality is also obtained while no causality relationship is found to exist between public debt and income inequality. Based on these findings, the study recommends that to reduce income inequality levels in Kenya, other methods of financing other than debt financing should be preferred because debt financing is not pro-poor.

This study is unique based on the fact that no previous paper has analysed the debt and inequality relationship in Kenya. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first study to analyse the applicability of redistribution effect of debt in Kenya. The study is also different in that it provides separate analysis for public debt and internal debt on their effects on income inequality.

This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristics on leverage in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) non-financial listed firms.

A sample comprising a balanced panel for eight years from 2009–2016 for four Gulf countries is used. In total, 85 non-financial listed companies have been selected using a non-probability sampling technique. Corporate characteristics are represented by return on assets (ROA), return on equity, return on capital employed, market value-added, Tobin-Q, liquidity and firm size. The study used fixed and random effect models to estimate the results.

The findings of the study revealed that both ROA and FSIZE have a significant negative effect on leverage. However, market value-added, return on capital employed and Tobin-Q exhibited a statistically significant positive effect on leverage. Further, the results indicated that Qatar is better than kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman and the UAE. In addition, evidence noted that KSA is better than both UAE and Oman in terms of the overall impact of corporate characteristics on the leverage. However, this effect is not statistically significant.

This study provides an open insight for managers, bankers, financial analysts in the GCC countries and some other developing economies by highlighting the relationship between corporate characteristics and leverage in an emerging market.

The current study provides an important insight into corporate characteristics and leverage. By so doing, it provides an attempt to identify the factors influencing corporate financing behavior taking into consideration different issues such as different proxies of firms’ profitability, market capitalization, market value added and liquidity, which provides original evidence from Gulf countries emerging markets. These countries are characterized by low tax rates and high liquidity. High liquidity may reduce the cost of borrowing and debt financing may not be a huge burden on firms’ profits. This makes the investigation of leverage and corporate characteristics, particularly, firms’ profitability and liquidity, very important. Therefore, the study tries to bridge an existing gap in the body of literature of capital structure and debt financing in Gulf countries emerging markets.